Robert Streb Claims Victory on Sunday at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship

Robert Streb had a strong week and maintained consistency in each of his four rounds in order to prevail over a crowd of golfers who made a run at him over the weekend.

Streb finished at 12-under on the week and defeated Peter Malnati in the first hole of a playoff. Malnati was unhappy with his finish, having gone into the 18th hole with a one-shot lead and finishing with a bogey to force the playoff, but was happy with his performance overall.

“I mean, it feels a little…just a little, you know, downer to end off with. I guess I bogeyed my last two holes of the tournament if you count the playoff hole. That doesn’t feel great, but more than mission accomplished and then some to come in here and have the tournament I did,” said Malnati. “So, I am thrilled underneath this little, like, present moment of disappointment, I’m thrilled.”

Malnati’s second place finish earned him a guaranteed spot on the PGA Tour next season, which was his goal coming into this week.

“I can’t tell you how good that feels. It’s cool and, you know, I’ve never really played this game to make money, but I don’t want to have to do something else to make money, either. So, to get back to the PGA Tour, it’s just a little bit of freedom,” said Malnati.

Streb was happy with his victory, and was relieved to have come away with the trophy after performing below his own expectations on Sunday.

“A little bit of a struggle. Made a really bad bogey on the third hole, a couple good birdies on 4 and 5, and then thought I hit a couple good shots that weren’t as good as I thought they would be, and then made a couple bogeys at 10 and 11 that weren’t very good,” Streb said. “Tried to scratch and claw, and bad three-putt on 14 and then a good birdie on 16. You know, kind of luckily, nobody got away.”

Malnati will not be alone in his trip back to the PGA Tour next season, as Streb also locked up a spot after his victory.

“Yeah, it’s really nice. It’s been a pretty big struggle all year, played a lot and was not playing well, so really nice to get that knocked out the first week. Yeah, just kind of work on improving and get ready for next year,” Streb said.

Going into the rest of the Web.com finals, Streb looks to finish at the top of the charts. A first-place finish on the tour would earn him a spot in next year’s Players Championship.

“It would be really big. I mean, I’ve got a nice leg up cashing the first-place check. Just hopefully keep after it the next few weeks,” Streb said.

Columbus golf fans can catch Streb at the Memorial Tournament next year, as his victory where Jack Nicholas started earned him a spot in Jack’s Tournament.

The Web.com Tour Finals continue next week in Beachwood, Ohio for the DAP Championship presented by NewBrick.

Robert Streb Holds Lead After Second Round of Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship

The second day of the Nationwide Children’s Championship was much like the first. The weather provided a perfect opportunity for scoring, and allowed a lot of players to get back into the mix.

The first day saw four golfers stand out from the rest of the pack, while Friday’s round provided movement on the scoreboard all day. Ben Crane was one of the names to drop off the board, as he relinquished all of his scoring from Thursday and finished even after a 5-over round.

Robert Streb and Kramer Kickok were two of the golfers able to accomplish consistency through the first two rounds, and hold the top two spots heading into the weekend at -9 and -8.

Streb began the first two rounds the same way, by bogeying the first hole he played. In each of the rounds, he was able to turn it around. He said that his round today was harder to score low than on the first day.

“Today was harder to get close with the wind and everything, made the fairways a little harder to hit. A little tougher to get close to the hole, the greens are a little firmer. So yeah, I could see that,” Streb said. “I feel like I played pretty good and maybe shoot a couple under, and because of the wind, it was hard to get all those birdie chances.”

With a good round already in the books and knowing that the course would play tougher with the wind, Streb focused on playing his best and not paying attention to the leaderboard.

“I wasn’t paying attention to it too much. I kind of figured with the wind, the scores weren’t going too low. It was playing pretty hard. So just tried to keep my head down and keep plugging away and try to do the same until Sunday,” Streb said.

Streb looks to carry his momentum into the weekend and hopes to pull out a win, when asked if that is what he is looking to draw from the weekend he said, “Probably, you know you can do it, done it before. Biggest thing for me is just the old cliche, one shot at a time kind of thing. So just try to stick with what I’m doing, not watch the board too much and hopefully play well enough.”

Hickok agreed that the wind played a huge factor in the movement on the leaderboard today, and wanted to make sure he didn’t make any mistakes by playing too eager to score low.

“Yeah, the wind’s up, it’s gusting up to 20 miles an hour, and when you get back in the trees, it just swirls. It’s a lot of crosswind holes, so the difference between a little bit down and a little bit into could be 10 to 20 yards,” Hickok said. “It’s tough out there. You’ve got to be really patient. And, you know, I hit the driver really well today, which allowed me to put myself in position to score, but even then you can still make a quick bogey.”

With thunderstorms set to move in on Columbus Saturday, scoring low may continue to be difficult through the weekend. While Streb and Hickok will look to stay consistent, the rest of the field may need to brave the elements to catch them.

Henrik Norlander Leads After First Round of Nationwide Children’s Championship

The first groups of the day were greeted with a chilly morning and dew-covered grass as the Ohio State University Scarlet course unveiled itself with deep bunkers, long holes and lightning fast greens.

The weather provided the opening round of the 2018 Nationwide Children’s Championship with perfect scoring conditions on a course that can be challenging to the best, even when everything is perfect.

Once the sun was fully in the sky, the fairways and greens dried out and provided an opportunity for blistering long drives, and impossible short chips. Two golfers stood out from the rest in their ability to capitalize on the conditions, and set themselves up for a strong tournament.

Robert Streb was one of those golfers, and finished alone in second place at -6 after the first round. Streb was able to play his last 17 holes at -7 after bogeying the 1st.

“Obviously a little bit of a slow start bogeying the first hole, but kind of been fighting getting the ball in play and did a pretty good job today,” Streb said after his round. “Felt like I putted good, so made a lot of birdies, which is nice, and capitalized on the nice weather.”

Streb attributed the success of his first round to his ability to capitalize on what he feels are the most difficult holes on the course.

“I hit it pretty close on 10, made par from the left bunker on 11 and then birdied 12. I felt like that was a pretty good little string of events there because 10 and 11, they can be pretty tough holes,” said Streb.

Although Streb had a great round and was the clubhouse leader when he finished, there was another golfer who was able to score one better than him.

Henrik Norlander entered the tournament ranked 32nd on the Web.com Tour this season, looking to capitalize on a good week in order to move up into the top 25. Norlander shot a 7-under 64 on Thursday to claim the outright lead by one shot.

“I felt good all week. I played pretty good last week, just had a bad finish on Sunday. Didn’t get in the Top 25, which was the goal obviously for the season. So, I tried to regroup and had three goals the next four weeks, try to take it a little slower, have fun and just trust everything I’m doing,” Norlander said. “I only have an upside to play these four events. I have full status on the Web next year, which obviously is not my goal, but I only have upside playing these four events. Just trying to have fun.”

Norlander came off of the round in good spirits looking forward to the rest of the week, he attributed the feeling to his ability to bounce back from a bogey on 17 with a birdie on 18.

“I got greedy on 17 and tried to go for the flag, came out of it in the bunker and I was actually shocked how easy that bunker shot was because I was on the up-slope,” Norlander said after his round. “Almost sort of took me out of my focus, I thought I was going to have a really tough shot and I got up there and it was sort of easy. I hit a pretty bad bunker shot, hit a decent putt. Nice to bounce back and finish with a birdie.

Norlander and Streb will look to keep playing well this week as the Nationwide Children’s Championship resumes Friday morning in Columbus.

Nationwide Surprises Young Cancer Warrior Zander Craig with $10,000 College Scholarship

Nationwide, a founding partner of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (NCHC) golf tournament, surprised 14-year-old cancer survivor and NCHC patient champion Zander Craig with a $10,000 college scholarship Thursday morning. The message was delivered in a video featuring Nationwide spokesperson and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning before the Web.com Tour Finals event at the Ohio State University Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio began. The proceeds of the tournament will go to benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“Nationwide is very proud of our 60-plus year relationship with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, America’s largest children’s hospital and pediatric research center,” said Jim McCoy, associate vice president of sports marketing and sponsorships at Nationwide. “Zander’s story is one of perseverance and triumph. We’re thrilled to be able to present this scholarship to him as our way of paying tribute to every patient and family that has been touched by the amazing work being done by the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital.”

Zander’s family first noticed something was wrong with him when he was just nine years old after his left arm stopped working correctly. They also noticed changes in Zander’s personality that caused them concern.

Desperate for answers, Zander and his family turned to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in March 2015. An MRI revealed he had extensive brain tumors. Just five days after his diagnosis, Zander was in a 10-hour surgery to remove the largest of several tumors. After three weeks spent in the recovery and rehab unit, Zander defied all odds by walking out of Nationwide Children’s under his own power.

Zander’s fight isn’t over. He had another surgery in June 2015 to remove a tumor, and every three to four months has an MRI to monitor the growth of the inoperable tumors that remain. However, nothing stops Zander from thriving and living his life to the fullest. As a freshman at Findlay High School, he recently made the junior varsity golf team.

“My wife Kim and I talk about the hospital a lot. Just the environment, the staff, the friendliness of the people, the doctors…it’s amazing,” said David Craig, Zander’s father. “When you walk in there as a parent, you have so many thoughts going through your head to begin with. But when you spend time there, they put you at ease and are so supportive. We’re in awe to have the opportunity to bring awareness not only to Zander’s medical situation but what Nationwide Children’s has done for him as an individual.”

Nationwide Children’s Hospital remains the cornerstone beneficiary of Nationwide. Through Nationwide’s sponsorships of NASCAR, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship golf tournament, and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon, Nationwide sports marketing platforms helped raise more than $6 million for the hospital in 2017. In all, Nationwide sports sponsorships have raised more than $27 million for the hospital since 2011.

“We continue to thank Nationwide for their incredible generosity to our patients and families,” said Niki Shafer, senior vice president of outreach, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “This particular gift is one that will impact Zander and his family for years to come.”

Tiger Tracker: Woods Finishes Memorial 9 Under Par, Looks Forward to U.S. Open

Tiger Woods came into the 2018 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club with a lot of unknowns. Whether or not his back would hold up, if he could control the ball off of the tee, whether his short game was locked in, or if he could still compete at the highest level. Over the four rounds he played in Dublin, Ohio, Woods got his answers.

Woods came into Jack’s tournament as a crowd favorite, which was apparent by the huge galleries that followed him from the first hole Thursday to the final hole on Sunday. Thursday, he struggled with tightness in his back and was unable to put together any consistency. Friday and Saturday, he loosened up and started to dial everything in. Sunday became a sort of step back from the highs of his Friday and Saturday rounds, but Woods is just happy to see progress.

“It’s incredible to be able to play golf again at this level. Not to have any worries about being able to walk again,” Woods said. “There was a point in time where I couldn’t walk, and this is part of the game. I’m able to do this now at this level and go hit the shots I’m hitting and compete and I’ve had a chance to win a few times so far this year.”

Woods started off his day with a birdie on the first hole, and appeared to have confidence in his putting stroke to start the round. His next birdie would come on the par-5 5th hole, where it was looking like the leaders would have a Tiger on their trail the rest of the day. Unfortunately for Woods, he would follow his 2 under front side with a 3 over back side, where he would once again struggle with his putter.

“I just need to hit better putts. This week I didn’t really have it, didn’t feel comfortable with my lines and my feel was a little bit off. Consequently, I missed a bunch of putts,” Woods said. “If I just putt normally, I probably would be right up there with those guys and up there in the last couple of groups.”

The tournament proved to be a testing ground for Woods to see what he is capable of, and gain some confidence in his ability to play through the weekend before he heads into the U.S. Open in two weeks. The course was in perfect yet challenging condition all week, forcing players to pick and choose their shots. This is a staple of U.S. Open courses, and provided Woods with the perfect warm-up.

“It’s a ball-striker’s golf course. You have to hit the ball well here. You cannot fake it around this place,” Woods said. “Shinnecock, the way it’s set up with the rough and the fescue and the 7,500 par 70, I mean it’s a big ballpark. This week, being as soft as it was this week, it’s a big ballpark. You had to carry the ball a long way, you weren’t going to chase it out there. Shinnecock could dry out by the time we play it, you never know. But if it doesn’t, it will be similar to this.”

Woods was happy not only with his game and being able to get a good warm-up in before the U.S. Open, but also appreciated the fans who followed him all week.

“This week has been incredible. I haven’t played here in a few years and it’s one of my favorite stops on tour. The people here are supportive, they’re into it, great sports town, but they’re so respectful,” Woods said. “We don’t get some of the things that are said… Well, to my group any ways… week-in and week-out here. So that’s been incredible and it’s fun to be a part of.”

Tiger Tracker: Woods Continues to Dial in Irons, Struggle with Putter

Tiger Woods came into the weekend after struggling through his first round, then catching fire to end his second. He wrestled with driving the ball and sinking his putts on Thursday and Friday, but had his irons and wedges absolutely locked in. Woods finishes with a 67 on Friday and a 68 on Saturday, but knows he could’ve gone much lower if he finished his holes off with quality putts.

“I am definitely not taking advantage of how well I’m hitting it,” Woods said. “These are probably the highest scores I could have shot. I’ve shot what could have easily been 62 or 63 yesterday and could have easily shot 63 or 64 without doing much today. I hit the ball well enough to. Shooting in the low 60’s could have been pretty easy is I had just putted normally.”

An eagle on the 5th hole and birdies on 6, 7, and 9 left Woods 5-under par on his round and 10-under par for the tournament through his front nine. It looked as if he was about to light the course on fire on the back nine, with thousands of people carefully watching and following him in the gallery.

“I played really, really well,” Woods said. “I played beautifully actually.”

Woods would continue to drive the ball well throughout the rest of his round, and was striping his irons to within 15 feet every time he had a chance. It was obvious that he was swinging with a good rhythm and gaining confidence as the round progressed. However, he continued to struggle with his putter for the third straight round. After sinking a few great birdie putts on the front side, he could not buy one on the back.

“I was releasing the putter beautifully early, just getting the putts to turn over,” Woods said. “My toe was moving nicely, and just didn’t do it at the end.”

Woods finally sank a birdie putt on the 15th hole, which sparked a classic Tiger Woods fist pump with a roar from the crowd. You could feel the electricity in the air as the gallery hoped he would capitalize on the momentum. Unfortunately for Tiger, he would surrender all of that gained momentum on the very next hole.

On the par-3 16th hole Tiger put his tee shot to around 15 feet from the pin, and was left with an uphill breaking putt. Woods started his first putt 7 feet right of the hole expecting a massive break, and barely got half of that as his ball rolled past the cup. He was left with a 7-footer for par, which he ended up missing.

Woods would miss a birdie putt on 17, then 3-putt from 20 feet on the 18th to finish his round with a bogey. His second putt on 18 was a tap in from about 2 feet that he was unable to drop. Tiger’s moving day ended with some disappointment, as he knows he could’ve been 15-under had he putted well the last two rounds.

“I’ve got a good feel for what I’m doing. Even when I wasn’t feeling my best on the first day, I was able to make some tweaks to get it around and be able to turn a pretty substantially high number into a round that kept me in the tournament,” Woods said. “I was at 11-under par, and I had wasted a bunch of shots the last two days, and I was 4-over par in the first round. So, you do the math.”

Tiger Tracker: Woods Lights Up His Back Nine on Friday

Tiger Woods entered his round Friday at the Memorial Tournament even par after battling back from 4-over midway through Thursday. He wrestled with consistency in his first round, dealing with a stiff back and extreme heat and humidity. He struggled to find the fairway Thursday, and started off his round Friday by finding the right rough with his drive.

A quality second shot placed him on the green and putting for birdie, but he would squander the opportunity with a three-putt bogey. This first hole became a preview of how the rest of his day would go with the short stick.

“I did not putt well today,” Woods said. “I didn’t feel the putter head flowing, I didn’t feel it releasing. These are all things I normally feel, but I just didn’t quite have the feel for it.”

The bogey to start the day would be the only one of Tiger’s round, as he struck the ball well all day. He was not dealing with the same stiffness in his back, and was able to freely swing and make contact with the ball.

“I was fine today, I felt loose,” Woods said. “I felt like I was going to hit the shots, had the start lines nice and tight, and I was shaping it back and forth either way. Didn’t really matter which way or what side of the green the flag was on, I could shape it there.”

Woods birdied holes 3, 5, 7, and 9 en route to a 3-under 33 on his front side, on the back side is where things really started to heat up. Woods holed-out his third shot from the fairway on the par-5 11th hole, then followed that up by hitting the pin on the par-3 12th hole and leaving the ball five feet from the cup.

When leaving interviews, Woods was quickly asked “did the ball hit the pin on 12?”, to which he turned and replied, “it did” with a smile. It seemed as if nothing could slow Woods down, just as a flash storm stopped play before he could hit his putt.

After the roughly hour and a half break in play, Woods returned to take his shot at a birdie, and missed his putt just off the edge. He would hit the green on every hole for the rest of the round, and didn’t leave himself more than a twelve-foot putt. On the par-3 16th, his tee shot landed five feet short of the pin and took a bounce no more than two inches from dunking in for a hole-in-one. A fan shouted, “is that cup regulation size?” as the ball settled roughly 8 feet away from the pin.

Although Woods was an ace with his irons, his putter kept on failing him to end his round. Missed putts on nearly every hole to end the round left both he and his fans wondering what could have been.

“It could have been easily a nice little 62 or 63. I turned it into a 67,” Woods said. “I would like to say what I normally say to that, but, it happens. You can put the other word in there.”

Super-Group Provides Early Action for Memorial Fans on Friday

The grouping of Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, and Dustin Johnson started their Friday round at 8:15 off the 10th tee in front of a large gallery at Muirfield Village Golf Club for the second round of the Memorial Tournament. The pairing of local hero Day with two of the world’s best in Johnson and McIlroy drew a lot of interest through the first two rounds.

Day began his second round at 4-under, and 3 shots back of first day leaders Abraham Ancer and Joaquín Niemann, while McIlroy and Johnson were sitting at 2-over and even respectively. Two quick birdies from Day on the 11th and 12th holes caught the attention of everyone on the course, as it appeared his hot hand might put together a low round. Over the course of the rest of Day’s front side however, he surrendered two bogeys to bring him back to even on the round through nine.

“Got off to a pretty decent start on the back side, which was the front side today,” Day said. “and then obviously I had a couple bogeys, kind of went to even par through nine holes. But nice to get through the front side again 4-under.”

Day birdied holes 2, 5, 6, and 8 on his second nine to place him at 8-under through two rounds, and holding a share of the lead as the second set of groups started their rounds. Day said playing in his hometown can be a challenge.

“It annoys me. I want to play well in front of my family,” Day said. “I want them to be yelling in the crowd when you’re in contention.”

Day gave his family something to cheer about, and will look to continue pushing his momentum into the weekend. Dustin Johnson tied Phil Mickelson and three others for the lowest round of the morning at 6-under, scoring seven birdies on the day and providing early action to a mostly stagnant field. Johnson’s low scoring was fueled by his ability to sink putts all day, capitalizing on every chance he had.

“I like fast greens, I always have,” Johnson said. “I definitely feel like I’m rolling the putter nicely right now.”

Johnson struggled with his putting on Thursday, and decided to change putters back to one that he used last year in 2017. The change would prove fruitful as he seemed to hit on every chance he had.

“I went back to my old putter I putted all last year with and it worked,” Johnson said. “I definitely feel comfortable with it in my hand, I’ve played a lot of rounds of golf with it.”

Johnson finished the day at 6-under on his round and for the tournament, and put himself into great position going into moving day. Rory McIlroy was the one of the group who couldn’t seem to put anything together on the first two days. Scores of 2-over on Thursday and 2-under on Friday left him even for the tournament, and watching the field the rest of the day to see whether or not he makes the cut.